September 23 - 29, 2011
| Dear Readers, Discredited water official Steve Collins fought back this week, accusing two county supervisors and the county counsel of lying about him to investigators and the media. Kelly Nix has that story, and a couple of other interesting developments in the local water tragedy. Or is it a comedy? A Big Sur man died in a fire last week that left his home a complete ruin. The fire wasn't detected until long after it had burned itself out. Chris Counts has that one, and he reports a plea from a Big Sur fire chief for telephone and Internet communications to be improved in remote communities. The dispute over Flanders Mansion, which has boiled down to environmental nitpicking for the purpose of thwarting majority will, is headed toward a hearing in the appellate courts, which has been set for Oct. 20 in Salinas. Mary Schley reports that one. This weekend's Authors & Ideas Festival is promising to be another big success, but if you're up for something different, you'll be interested to know that a local man will be one of the big stars at the Salinas Airshow. To save money, the city council okayed a series of cuts in pension and medical insurance benefits for new hires. The City of Monterey agreed to take over the Carmel Fire Department. And my editorial asks everyone to quit accusing people who don't agree with them of being corrupt. We have a special section with the complete results of the 2011 Golden Pine Cones ... thanks to your expertise and the time you took voting, they're nothing less than an expert guide to the best local businesses, recreational opportunities and service providers. And if you're curious what the phrase "indigenous migrant" could possibly mean, be sure to visit my hot Internet links. To get this week's complete Pine Cone, please click here. If you have an informed opinion about one of our stories and would like to submit a letter to the editor, please click here. To comment on our Facebook page, click here. Of course, you can also contact me personally if you have questions, comments or concerns about this week's paper. Paul Miller, Publisher |